Just Another Day at the Beach
by just a dude27
Summary: Set before the events of Destiny. This is the story of a Titan and a Hunter, who can't help but make a great team, despite their best efforts to the contrary.


Sand.

Red sand, to be exact.

As far as the eye can see, and then some. All one can see is sand, in rolling dunes until in the middle of it all, the sand descends into a bowl shape. About a mile wide on all sides from the center, the bowl rests, protecting the lone structure at the center of it from harsh winds. Upon closer inspection, despite the protection that the surroundings provide from the elements, the building is far from perfectly preserved. The old tower has four sides, each about half a football field in length, with only the top three floors of the building stick out of the sand, but just barely. The bottom floor that's visible has only its top fourth visible, like a few more years and the sands will swallow up the rest, and a few more decades will see the rest of the tower go with it. The top of the tower peaks in a pyramid, and the entire building is sprinkled with holes, and the bottom floor had all its windows broken on one side, although some shards still bordered the edges of the windows. Sunlight filters into the bottom floor, stopping just shy of the middle of the room, leaving half of it in darkness, the other windows too stained or covered by sand to allow much light. In this darkness, one can just make out a figure sitting on a table, with a weapon in its hands. Every few seconds, a _chk_ sound can be heard, echoing through the building.

I've always liked the sand, reminds me of the beach, not that I've ever been. At least, not in this life. I guess it's a good thing I like the sand, seeing as how I'm stranded here, here being Mars. I glance down at the shotgun in my hands, which I found not far from where I was first revived. Nothing special about it, gunmetal grey with a bent rear sight, but it gets the job done. I scan the room, accustomed to the dark environment, and let my eyes linger on the rifle I found in here. Place must have been an armory, although not much of one, because the only weapon I found was the rifle. But there's plenty of ammunition, so it couldn't have been looted yet. I've set the boxes of ammunition I've found around the armory on the grey metal table I'm sitting on, dangling my legs over the side while I load my gun. There are few empty gun lockers set against the walls, and terminals form a square around the center of the room, maybe ten yards wide. Other than that, the room is empty, except for a door leading to the stairwell in one corner and a broken elevator in the middle of one of the walls.

I load another shell.

It's been a month since I was revived by my ghost. He says I'm a guardian, chosen by the Traveler to defend humanity. None of it makes sense to me, and I find it hard to believe that anyone else is still alive out there, all I've seen in the decrepit ruins around Mars are the dead, and the Cabal

I load another shell.

The one thing I do agree with my ghost on, though, is that I need to find a ship. We've been searching for one for the past month, ever since I woke up. We've searched every building we've come across, with no luck. I finish putting the last shell in my gun before getting up and slinging the rifle over my shoulder. The metal on my armor catches the light as I move. About a week after I first woke up on this planet, I found an old Kevlar vest, which I've reinforced the chest and shoulders with scavenged Cabal armor, and my left arm has pieces of a phalanx shield. I picked up an old grey ballcap from a building I passed through a few days ago, to keep the sun out of my eyes. Underneath the armor I'm wearing faded tan pants and a white long sleeve shirt that has holes in it. The muscles beneath my bronze skin flex as I stretch my legs. I take my cap off and run a hand through my jet black hair, which is cut short on the sides. I can see sand being kicked up at the edge of the bowl, with the faint roar of engines and glints of metal. From across the room, I hear a metallic voice say, "I was wondering when you'd notice them." I stare a second before turning around to see my ghost scanning the terminals.

"Find anything useful on those"?

"Take a guess," my ghost replies.

I sigh and turn back to watch the sand clouds get bigger. They're not moving very fast, the Cabal never do. They'll probably be here within half an hour. I can make out the glint of metal in the sun. From this distance it's hard to tell exact numbers, although the rifle I found has a scope that I'm sure would help.

"Are you going to do anything about those Cabal?" my ghost asks.

"I doubt the Cabal would send more than a handful of soldiers to a place like this," I respond. "I'll deal with them when they get here."

My ghost spins its front facing spines in irritation as it looks at the Cabal. "Consider it a favor to me, at least take a look," he pleads.

I give him a look before I head over to the stairs, and begin the climb up to the top of the building. I can only guess that the stairway used to be an emergency exit, based on the red markings on the concrete walls and arrows pointing downward. The stairs themselves are made of metal, and built into the rectangular walls of the stairwell. The rusted metal creaks whenever I take a step, but seems to hold up fine. I take a glance over the edge of the railing, and see that the stairway descends into darkness, ignoring the feeling of my stomach dropping as I do so. Before I'm able to make it to the top, I see that the last flight of stairs is missing, with torn metal on both sides of the gap, this last section must've collapsed due to rust. "Just my luck", I mutter.

My ghost has told me that I can summon the Light to surround me, bend the laws of gravity to reach heights that normal people couldn't, although I've never tried. I've had no reason to until now. He's also said that I can arm myself with the Light, with what I can only describe as godly powers. And that when I'm strong enough, it's all I'll need to defeat scores of enemies. To me, it seems to good to be true, but he did bring me back from the dead, so I wont dismiss everything he says.

"You know…" my ghost trails off.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," I say.

I back up a bit to get a running start, ignoring what my ghost says about it not being necessary. I spring forward and jump, focusing on summoning the Light within me. I get to the peak of my jump, and then I feel myself being propelled forward, across the ten yard gap, within arms reach of the other side, when it gives out, and I feel myself start to fall. I let out a short yell and flail my arms out, grabbing the edge with one hand, nearly dropping my shotgun. I look down and see the stairs I just climbed about 5 yards beneath me. Not very high stakes, but not a fall I'm keen to experience. I curse and pull myself up and onto the stairs and try to slow my beating heart. I see my ghost effortlessly cross the gap, looking amused. I glare at him and continue my climb to the top of the tower.

Once on the top floor, I can see the Cabal through one of the four windows in the room, about half way to my position. I prop my shotgun up against some boxes in the room before I crouch down and unsling my rifle, peering through its scope at them. Once I get a better look, I can see their exact numbers. There are four Cabal phalanxes in front, whose shields what I must have saw glinting in the sun earlier. Behind them are two legionnaires and a centurion. Trailing the whole group are two interceptors piloted by psions. The Cabal are brutes, with only one gear: forward. The psions worry me, even without the interceptors they're tricky, with telepathic powers. I train my weapon's sight on the head of one of the psions. I may not be the smartest, or have any luck with finding a ship to get off this planet, but I'm a natural with weapons, I'll give myself that much. I steady my breathing, and then pull the trigger.


End file.
